Traditional fare brings St. Patrick's Day home

Philip Wood/Auburn JournalAntoinette Sassman and her husband, Tom, look over the corned beef selection at Bel Air Saturday afternoon in Auburn. The couple celebrates St. Patrick’s Day each year with a traditional meal of corned beef, carrots and potatoes.

There's no need to leave home to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year.
Local grocery stores are making it easy to commemorate the day without stepping out of the house.
We have everything, said Tim Lalley, assistant store manager at Save Mart in Auburn. Of course we have corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, Irish soda bread and Irish liquors and beers.
Lalley said the store also carries a selection of St. Patrick's Day themed cookies and cakes.
Nicole Townsend, spokeswoman for Raley's/Bel-Air, said the Auburn stores are also stocked up on the St. Patrick's Day staples.
We have great cuts of corned beef to start the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal, Townsend said. The corned beef comes with a spice packet so you can make it at home.
Corned beef also comes with one free cabbage to round out your meal. And if you don't have time to make the beef yourself, Raley's sells it cooked and ready in the deli.
Raley's also has several recipes on its Web site, raleys.com. Customers can find 20 Irish-themed dishes including apple and brown sugar corned beef, shepherd's pie, Irish soda bread and beef and Guinness stew.
St. Patrick's Day is kind of like Thanksgiving, said Lowell Baker manager of Bel-Air in Auburn. At Thanksgiving, everybody buys turkey, and St. Patrick's Day is the only day that people really buy corned beef.
Baker said the store has already sold a lot of corned beef, and can't keep the shelves stocked enough.
Sales are through the roof, he said. People just feel festive whether they're Irish or not. The day gives people a day to celebrate.
Like Save Mart, Raley's and Bel-Air stores also have Irish soda bread and bakery items including shamrock cookies and cupcakes with green sprinkles on them.
Grass Valley residents Tom and Antoinette Sassman shopped for corned beef at Bel-Air Saturday afternoon.
We keep up with our traditions from when we lived in New Jersey, Tom Sassman said.
Sassman said his grandfather was Irish. And besides eating corned beef, the couple also prepares cabbage with carrots and potatoes.
No matter what you decide to cook, Townsend said celebrating at home is simple this year.
Our recipes are right on (the) home page of our Web site, Townsend said. And everything is ready in our store. We want to make it easy for people to celebrate at home.
The Journal's Philip Wood contributed to this report. The Journal's Jenna Nielsen can be reached at jennan@goldcountrymedia.com.